'Christian' Group Raising Money to Pay for Transgender Surgeries to 'Atone for Church's Discrimination'

A gay rights activist holds a rainbow flag while marching in downtown Belgrade September 27, 2013.

Reuters/Marko Djurica

A professing "Christian" LGBT group has announced it is raising money to pay for gender-reassignment surgeries for transgender people to "atone for the church's discrimination."

According to reports, the Tithe Trans Campaign, started by the group Faithfully LBGTQ, which seeks to "share the stories of LBGTQ people of faith," is encouraging people to "put your tithe money where your beliefs are."

"For those who do need surgeries in order to be at peace in their own bodies it can be a hard to gain access to," the Tithe Campaign's statement reads. "The trans community is disproportionately in poverty and gender affirming surgeries can range anywhere from 10k-90k."

This new campaign is collecting donations to send to the Jim Collins Foundation, a non-profit organization that raises money to provide grants to cover transgender surgeries to "help alleviate the discrimination trans people have faced in the Christian community."

"Christians have disparaged the bodies of trans people which has contributed to a culture of violence against them," reads the campaign website. "From promoting anti-trans bathroom legislation to theology that has lead [sic] to suicides and homelessness. For those Christians who have seen this violence and have been horrified by it, it's time to put your tithe money where your beliefs are."

"This is what Christianity should be about. Love, kindness, and helping those who need our help. That's what God wants," it says.

Eliel Cruz, founder of FaithfullyLGBT, told HuffPost that "many LGBT Christians give their tithe money back to LGBT people instead of the church since, broadly speaking, the evangelical church isn't doing anything to help the needs of LGBT people."

"It's hard for Christians in general to make reparations when far too many Christians are still actively promoting theology that harms trans people," he told HuffPost. "But for the growing number of Christians who have come to a better understanding of scripture around same-sex relationships and gender identity - an understanding that is life giving and affirming - this is a way to tangibly give back."

In an op-ed on his website, Answers in Genesis founder Ken Ham warned that "embracing, ignoring, or celebrating sin is not loving or kind" - in fact, it's "dangerous."

"What these Christians are doing is redefining 'love' and 'kindness' to mean accepting everything and not calling people to repent of their sin and trust in Christ," the Creation Museum president said. "To argue that God is all love and not also a just God who hates sin is to create a god in your own image, something that is forbidden (Exodus 20:4)."

Christians, Ham said, need to "genuinely love those who struggle with gender dysphoria," but we need to love them enough to do the hard thing-call them to repent and put their faith and trust in Christ.

"It's easy to stay silent or celebrate transgender ideology," he said. "It's hard to speak up and proclaim biblical truth. But these people need biblical truth-they are real people who are really hurting. Gender reassignment surgery won't offer them freedom because it won't fix their biggest problem-that they, like everyone else, are sinners in need of a Savior. And we need to help them understand that truth."